Coffee Talk

Four Barrel Just Says No to Soy

You can't have anything
You can’t have anything “half-caf” either. Photo: iStock Photo

Milk has always been a bit of a sticking point at Four Barrel Coffee, where, from the outset, owner Jeremy Tooker only offered whole milk (no low-fat options, no half-and-half), and soy milk for adding to his company’s coffee. That, along with the absence of wi-fi and his ban on tea, helped Tooker and Four Barrel gain a reputation for hipster snootiness. (See also last winter’s “Shit Baristas Say” video, shot at Four Barrel.) Now, in the name of taste and politics, Tooker is taking it one step further and banning soy milk for good. “It’s not that good for you, unless it’s fermented,” Tooker tells SFoodie, “and you’ve got this whole GMO problem.”

In its place, for the dairy sensitive, Four Barrel will start offering almond milk within the next couple of weeks, but they haven’t yet chosen a brand — many considerations come into play, you see, including flavor and “the compatibility of the milk’s emulsifier … with coffee.” Tooker says almond milk just tastes better, and he’s happy to take a stand, once and for all, against soy lattes.

And to take things one artisanal step further, Tooker says he’d like to start making his own almond milk for the shop, like Farm:Table does, but that will have to wait.

Four Barrel Nixes Soy. Forever. [SFoodie]
Related: Jeremy Tooker of Four Barrel Talks About the New Bakery, Not Being Too Hipster
Four Barrel Mocks Itself in ‘Sh*t Baristas Say’

Four Barrel Just Says No to Soy